Last week I received my Christmas/Valentine’s Day/Easter/Mother’s Day gift - a shiny
new Apple Watch. I’m sure some of you
might be thinking, “What
a silly thing to buy,” but
I am delighted with it. It means I don’t have to dig through
my purse for my phone for so many things.
My husband and I are self-confessed gadget geeks. I started using a smart phone many years ago,
when DayRunner quit making the small version.
I was delighted with the idea
that now I could carry my address book, calendar, shopping list, medical
records, even my Bible (in two languages!) on my phone. My watch doesn’t
have my shopping list, and the Bible app isn’t
quite ready yet, but it handles my e-mail and messages, the weather, my
schedule, maps, the latest news, and some very helpful health
applications. It keeps track of my
pulse, and reminds me to stand up (as I’m
able) and move my arms and body once an hour.
I like that. And, of course, it
tells the time. I can even choose
different watch faces depending on my mood or the occasion.
I saved my money for a long time to get this little piece of
technology. I know some people consider
it frivolous, but I consider having all these applications on my wrist a
benefit. (And, I confess, I always loved
Dick Tracy’s
wrist radio!) I pause to thank God that
I live in a time when technology has advanced to the point where such marvels
are available. I have a power wheelchair
- a boon because my hands are disabled and I can’t
propel myself in a manual chair. I have
a mobility van, with a ramp that comes out the side door, and a transfer seat
which slides back and out, allowing me to transfer me from my wheelchair to the
driver’s seat
and drive myself around town. I have a
special knob on the steering wheel because I can’t
hold the wheel for very long. I relish
my independence.
This kind of freedom was unthinkable just 50 years ago. In fact, it wasn’t until 1947 that Walter Harris Callow
designed the first wheelchair accessible buses for disabled veterans in Nova
Scotia. Tracing the history of the
wheelchair-accessible van is sketchy, but it is recorded that the rear-entry
kneel van concept was imported from the Netherlands in 1985. We know that Ralph Braun invented a
wheelchair lift that could be operated with hand controls in 1966. In 1970 he presented the Dodge “Lift-a-Way” full-size van to the
world, and the accessible minivan in 1991.
Other companies followed.
The power wheelchair is also the gift of a Canadian, George
Klein, who developed the chair for paralyzed World War II veterans sometime in
the early 1950s. Subsequent innovations
and improvements have resulted in more comfortable seats, chairs that can
maneuver through sand, gravel, and dirt, seats that can raise and lower the
user, and chairs that can be operated with a sip-puff system, among other
things.
Thanks to these forward-thinking inventors, I can go to school
twice a week to tutor children in reading and mathematics. I can drive myself to my doctor appointments,
to Bible study and other personal errands.
I am so grateful. How has
technology helped you, or a friend or loved one?
“Come
to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give
you rest.” Matthew 11:28
We thank you, Dear
Lord, for the gifts of creativity you have given to some people, that have
benefited so many others. We are
grateful that we are not confined by our physical limitations, but given the
freedom to freedom to venture outside our doors and into the world. We thank you for our wheels, which have become
our wings. Amen.
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